by Ben Smith
At some point, blocks were laid down to stabilize the seabed. Posts and rods were driven in. Metal was stacked on metal. Towers rose from the water like the trunks of long-forgotten trees.
The trees grew branches. The wind blew and the branches turned. The wind blew and the branches thrummed and turned. Cables spread like roots. Energy gathered and spread.
When did this happen? Maybe centuries ago. Nothing more than a blink in the lifetime of water.
But they are here. And so, water continues its work – of levelling, of pressing at edges, of constantly seeking a return to an even surface, a steady state. It repeats its mantra: solidity is nothing but an interruption to continuous flow, an obstacle to be overcome, an imbalance to be rectified.
It finds its way through cracks and rivets. It scrapes away metal, millimetre by millimetre. It chips paint and crumbles rubber seals. It finds new ways to make things bloom.
Sometimes, it finds its work undone. A crack is filled, a panel is reinforced. But the water is patient. It’s been doing this for a long time.
The wind blows, the branches creak and turn. Somewhere in the metal forest, a tree slumps, groans, but does not quite fall.
The landscape holds fast, for a moment.
For how long? It may be centuries. Barely worth mentioning in the lifetime of water.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my agent Euan Thorneycroft and my editor Helen Garnons-Williams for their wonderful advice, enthusiasm and faith in the novel; to the teams at A. M. Heath and 4th Estate; to Jos Smith, Sam North and Emma Bird for reading early drafts and giving invaluable advice and encouragement; to Nan-Jui (Mike) Chen for his help with the Chinese translations (any mistakes are entirely my own); to the Roger and Laura Farnworth Residency at Warleggan, which gave me two weeks to write in quiet and beautiful surroundings; to my colleagues in the English and Creative Writing Department at the University of Plymouth for creating an inspiring and supportive environment in which to work; and to Andy Brown, Sam North and Philip Hensher for teaching me how to write. Thank you to my family and friends for their support and encouragement. Thank you to Lucy, for everything.
The following books and articles were very helpful when researching the history, geography and archaeology of Doggerland:
B.J. Coles, ‘Doggerland: A Speculative Survey’, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, Volume 64, January 1998.
Vincent Gaffney, Simon Fitch and David Smith, Europe’s Lost World: The Rediscovery of Doggerland, Research Report No. 160, Council for British Archaeology, 2009.
Nicholas Crane, The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016.
Brian Fagan, The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present and Future of Rising Sea Levels, Bloomsbury Press, 2013.
Steven Mithen, After the Ice: A Global History of Humanity, 20,000–5000 BC, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.
About the Author
Ben Smith lives in Cornwall and is a lecturer in creative writing at Plymouth University, specializing in environmental literature and focusing particularly on oceans, climate change and the ‘Anthropocene’. His first poetry pamphlet, Sky Burials, was published by Worple Press and his poetry and criticism have appeared in various journals and anthologies. Doggerland is his first novel.
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